Is Bhagdadi dead, alive or just faking it?

Iraq, June 14: On June 10th a news report stated that the chief of the ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was injured in an air strike.

Today according to Amaq the official news agency of the ISIS, Baghdadi had died. This is however not for the first time that the news regarding the death of the ISIS chief who is nicknamed the invisible sheikh has surfaced.This is because he wears a mask while making an address. [Al-Baghdadi 'killed in US-led coalition air strike']

It is being said that he was killed in an air strike led by the US coalition. There is however no official word from the US on his death.

Even when Osama Bin Laden was being pursued by the US, such news reports had appeared. Let us now examine the various possibilities behind the news surrounding the death of Bhagdadi.

Dead, alive or injured?

Around 3 years back, Bhagdadi was an extremely vocal person. There would be videos and audio clips which would be released at regular intervals. If one may recollect one such audio clip was released in December 2015. None have heard of him since then. There are no audio or video released from the man since last December.

There are only three possibilities behind this stony silence since December last. He could really be dead, badly injured or faking his death.

The US coalition which says it is chasing the man has however admitted that they are not aware of his exact location. The US officials had even stated that if they knew his location, they would have attacked it.

It was even more surprising that following the Paris attack, there was never any official statement from Bhagdadi.

Normally in the aftermath of such a massive attack, there is always a statement from the chief of the outfit which carried out the attack. There is a very good chance that he may be faking his death too. The heat on him is very high and if such information about his death is leaked in the media, it does lower the heat on him to a certain extent.

Why will the ISIS not tell the truth:

In Bhagdadi's death, there will be a major vacuum in the outfit. The ISIS has not yet found a suitable replacement for him. When a tall leader of an outfit dies, there is a good chance of the group disintegrating. It happened in the case of Mullah Omar of the Taliban.

The Taliban was very slow to confirm the news of his death. They feared that the Taliban would split very badly as Omar was the binding force. They announced his death only when they realised that they could find a replacement for him.

The case is the same with Bhagdadi. The case is similar in the case of the al-Qaeda. It is a well known fact that the outfit completely crumbled after the death of Osama Bin Laden.

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